I spoke with someone today where the issue of such threats of H1N1 and the like became a concern of how does a company continue to function in light of workers being in such close proximity to one another and how can companies deal with it. There solution was a 3d approach, do you have any knowledge base on this subject, such as what is it and how does one look to get more information on this approach?
Not sure if you can help but do you have any information on 3d work environments?
Answers
Hello - here is some advice that our firm published on this topic last year.
Dan Pyne, Attorney and Shareholder with Hopkins & Carley, recommends the following:
Employers should be very careful on their internal communications when someone notifies them of being diagnosed with the swine flu (or any illness). The focus should be on notifying employees that they may have been exposed to the disease instead of disclosing that another employee has contracted it. Depending on the size of the company, the identity of the infected employee may become fairly obvious and that could create potential liability for invasion of privacy. As a general rule, and for the same reasons, employers are recommended against contacting the sick employee's health care provider to request information.
There is a difference between notifying employees of a potential danger and taking on the duty of educating employees from A-to-Z about a disease and finding a balance in the information provided. Going overboard could stigmatize the infected employee when he or she returns to work. Employers are recommended to disclose the possibility of an exposure to the employees, encourage them to confer with their health care provider if they feel ill or want additional information, and offer only one or two websites containing general information about the disease.
Mr. Pyne can be reached at [email protected] or 408.286.9800 for employers needing additional employment counsel assistance.
Last year, The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) posted a webpage to address the discrimination issues associated with a pandemic at http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/pandemic_flu.html online.
Besides providing background on the 2009 H1N1 threat, it also covers:
--How much information may an employer request from an employee who calls in sick, in order to protect the rest of its workforce when an influenza pandemic appears imminent?
--When may an ADA-covered employer take the body temperature of employees during a pandemic?
--Does the ADA allow employers to require employees to stay home if they have symptoms of the pandemic influenza virus?
--When employees return to work, does the ADA allow employers to require doctors’ notes certifying their fitness for duty?
Good luck!
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